Ground Breaking
by Courtney.Wortney
Summary: While John and Sherlock are on the trail of a globally famous criminal they find themselves in Christchurch, New Zealand. No one told them about the earthquake risk and soon the two are in the middle of a disaster. Taken in by locals John and Sherlock start to realize that disasters are great for hiding criminals and this criminal is closer to home than expected.
1. Chapter 1

**So this story is very personal to me. It's centred in the 2011 February 22****nd**** earthquake that hit at 12:51pm on the dot. It was one of many in a city in New Zealand called Christchurch which is where I live. I wanted a way to write it down and I didn't know how because my own story would interest none of you. So I thought I would incorporate it into a Fan Fiction which is something I love to write. It's been a few years since the earthquakes happened but I decided there must be some way I can share this. Who knows I may publish my own story on Watt pad someday but for today I will settle on incorporating my story into something I love, Sherlock and Fan Fiction. Trust me, nothing is exaggerated.  
Any names that appear in the story are entirely coincidental.**

* * *

John remembered the silence. The eerie silence that followed the tremendous rumble that threw him off his feet, it sounded like something was waking under the earth and it sounded violent. The ground shook, it was a huge betrayal. Ground was stable, it was always there, it was meant to keep still but it didn't, it lied. They say you should always stay grounded and at one with earth but when the earth shook John didn't want to be grounded or at one with the earth he wanted to be in the air floating because the ground was frightening and it threw him off the ground with the force of six atomic bomb explosions. The silence leaked from destroyed buildings and gaping holes in the pavement and it soon filled the air and for that split second of deafening silence John had about a split second to realize the stable, trusted, reliable ground had just destroyed a whole city. Alarms pierced the silence, not one but two; no three, he couldn't keep up as one after the other alarms blared around the city. They were obnoxious; overlapping each other like a demented harmony. John didn't realize how much he hated alarms and sirens. They were loud and they filled you with panic and urgency._ Please evacuate the building. _There were so many different types of alarms and John felt like now he had heard them all now, he didn't realize there were so many. Ones that shrieked at you, ones that filled the air with a loud drawn out wails like a wounded child amplified a thousand times. Then there were the rush of sharp ambulance and fire sirens. Punctuating the wails with urgent warnings. They were the cried of a broken city.  
_Please evacuate the building_.  
_Please evacuate the building.  
__Please evacuate the building.  
_He didn't know which building should be evacuated or if it was multiple buildings that needed to be evacuated. The dust, oh God the dust was choking him, it clung to his skin he could feel it thick like mud. He could now taste, smell, hear, and feel earthquake. He didn't even understand how he could feel, taste, smell and hear an earthquake but he could, he just could. Suddenly wails and screams floated through the ruined city, cries for help and pleas for safety. He wished he could go back to just the sirens. No sane thought could push past the barricade of adrenaline and fear in his brain. He just stared around at him; he looked up at the sun blocked by dust. But it had just been there a moment ago shining brightly. The building had been there just a moment ago where had it gone, where had everything gone! The sun was just a round blot like a tea stain on parchment. Then all of a sudden he was running. He hadn't even commanded himself to run, nowhere in his head had he thought _run _he was just suddenly running and when he realized he was running, he couldn't stop. People streamed from building surrounding him. People screaming, people crying, oh God he had to get away from here, he had to find Sherlock.

Sherlock.

The thought hit him so hard he stumbled and fell backwards, he hit the ground and his hand sunk deep into an unknown sandy liquid*. It swallowed his hand and he tugged against it before it could swallow his arm. What the hell was this!?Sherlock  
Sherlock  
Sherlock  
His name was being drummed into his brain, mixing with the wails, and the screams, and the sirens. He was dizzy with panic and he felt so disconnected from his own body that by the time he reached the city limits all he could comprehend was a blur and swirl of panic, wailing, fear, sirens and screams. He hit speed dial one and stared in horror at his surroundings, a huge stone arch towered over a bridge that looked highly unsafe to wander over, a river run wildly underneath and the bank was covered in towering willow trees. It seemed a strangely beautiful backdrop to the most terrifying nightmare John had faced in his life. The phone was engaged; he hit one and tried again but hit the same dial tone, engaged. No, no, no! He had to get hold of Sherlock he had to know he was okay!  
"Sir you need to move away from the building" a voice shouted at him, a shock of yellow ran towards him. That's when the earth shock again, it didn't shake sideways it bounced, the ground actually bounced beneath him, he watched the ground ripple like water. John blinked in amazement, had the ground just rippled towards him, was that possible?  
"SIR YOU NEED TO GET AWAY FROM THE BUILDING!" arms grabbed him and pulled him from the building as huge chunks of wall and masonry hit the ground. He heard the ground split with a sound like thunder. He screamed, for the first time since the ground betrayed Christchurch he screamed. The woman screamed with him and he felt less alone. He wasn't the only one experiencing this nightmare. "Help" he bellowed but it was no good because he was one of the hundreds screaming for help. People with faces covered in blood and bits of roof and wall. He wondered what he must look like. "sir you need to remain calm" Remain calm! How the bloody hell could he remain calm the ground had literally rippled underneath him. "What's your name?"  
"Sherlock" he said without thinking "No, no it's not its John, my names John"  
"John my name is Cassie" the woman was shouting at him over the alarms.  
"I have to go, I have to find Sherlock" the woman wouldn't let go, she had a death grip on John "Let go I have to get out of here" the woman wouldn't let go, he pulled away but the woman pulled him closer to him. He looked up at her face for a moment and he understood the woman wasn't just being annoying and clingy, this woman was afraid to let him go she stared at him, her eyes huge with fear. John stopped pulling against her and pulled her into a hug instead. The woman wept in his arms and he felt her legs go slack, John was holding up a stranger while she wept in his arms, he only knew her for five minutes but they were the only thing each other had right now. An ambulance turned down the street they were on and John's heart leapt was Sherlock in there? He tired his phone again but it was still engaged. Finally Cassie let go and just like that she was gone; she took off and seemed to disappear into the dust. John was baffled but he let it go he had to get to Sherlock. He remembered the conversation they had only ten minutes before.

* * *

"_I need to check something out at the cathedral. Two men were seen acting suspicious there last night. I need you to talk to this man" Sherlock handed him a piece of paper with an address on it, scrawled underneath the address was 'Wizard' John gave Sherlock a skeptical look._

"_He's not actually a wizard obviously but he is always around the centre of the city, I've seen him. I acquired his address and I need you to talk to him, he'll know more about this city than me" John nodded and thrust the note into his pocket. Sherlock nodded and they went separate ways. John looked up at the towering steeple ahead of him tipped with green. It was an odd feature of the stony cathedral but he didn't have time to judge it. It was a beautiful building, a large stain glass window sat in the middle underneath a huge oak door. It was open, welcoming everyone, music came from inside, John smiled and glanced down at the address._

John pulled the note from his pocket. It was wet and covered in muddy grey sand from when he had fallen but he could still read the work 'Wizard' clearly. He needed to ask for help, no matter what was going on around him John need to get help. He gazed around not really seeing anything other than rubble and twisted metal, puddles of black and grey sand and wounded, scared people.  
"Where is the cathedral from here?" he asked a man covered head to toe in dust and the grey sandy liquid, John noticed he was missing a shoe, John hadn't noticed how disorientated he had become to have to ask somewhere where the building he had just come from was. The man pointed back towards the city and John's whole body seemed to sink into despair. The man was pointing upwards and John had to ask what he was pointing at, all he could see was dusty sky. The man stumbled backwards and narrowed his eyes.  
"Oh my God" he whispered, terror fluttered wildly inside John "It's gone" he cried in disbelief "It's gone oh my God, the cathedral! The steeple, gone!" Those were exactly the words John was dreading. It was the news John hadn't wanted to hear. The building Sherlock was in had collapsed, it was gone just like the sun, just like the building John had watched disintegrate to the ground. He took off running again, his shoes catching in the sand that seemed to be bubbling up all over the city; he understood why the man was missing a shoe. He considered taking them off but he couldn't there was glass everywhere. Emergency crews had arrived in the city and John lost count of how many times he saw the words 'St John ambulance' it was written over yellow figures and ambulances, it was written on tents being erected all through the city. The dust had started to settle and the sun began shining down over the rubble, shinning a cheery light over the city. It didn't match the city. It looked wrong to see the sun shinning so brightly. The world seemed to just slow and no matter how fast he ran he couldn't get to the cathedral fast enough. John watched a ripple of ground roll towards him and he froze as the ground shook strongly and fiercely. It made him sick, more walls collapsed around him. The people seemed to still blur around him because none of them were faces he wanted to see, he just wanted to see one face. One coat and scarf walking towards him and everything would be okay again; he could deal with the shaking and the devastation as long as he had Sherlock. The cathedral ahead of him was not the cathedral he had seen before. It was a mess, the man was right the cathedral steeple, that once rose high, and beautiful stained glass window and oak door was gone. Reduced to rubble.  
"SHERLOCK" he screamed praying he could hear him "Sherlock!" other voices around him shouted various names.  
"Emma!"  
"Bobby!"  
Sherlock was just another name to those people. It seemed like John had shouted Sherlock's name till his voice was raw. Officers had arrived on scene and taken place just outside calming people down. John's legs collapsed underneath him as he looked at the destroyed building. Sherlock wouldn't call his name back. The building was to mangled for anyone to get out of, there were cries from the people next to him. A hand had risen from the rubble. It was a small feminine hand; a person emerged from the rubble, alive. John could have cried in relief. People were getting out, another hand rose from the rubble and John's stomach somersaulted. Slowly a familiar figure appeared. He threw himself towards the rubble but three police stopped him, he pushed against them and fought to get closer but they pushed him back.  
"Let me through please!" he begged but they just shook their heads. There were cheers and applause puncturing through the sirens. It was such an odd sound to hear but people were clapping as one by one people were pulled from the rubble. John watched in desperation as Sherlock was led towards the three police men who had held John back. John was crying, tears of relief streaming down his face a blurry Sherlock walked towards him, and he ran full force at him unable to stop himself. He threw his arms around him forgetting that everyone else was watching. He expected Sherlock to push him away at the public display of affection but Sherlock fell to the ground and clung to John.  
"You're okay"  
"You're okay"  
"You're okay" he repeated. The situation was hugely not okay but for a moment he forgot he was caught in the middle of a devastating disaster. He and Sherlock had survived it and that was all that mattered. They let go of each other "can you stand?" John asked Sherlock grabbing his arm to help him up, Sherlock nodded and John pulled him up.  
"That was a huge aftershock" John overheard one man say  
"Aftershock!" Sherlock shouted in disbelief, the man jumped in fright and spun to face Sherlock and John. The man looked at the two like they were crazy, like he hadn't just described a major earthquake as an aftershock. "Yeah we had a 7.1 back in September this is an aftershock" John and Sherlock stared at each and then back at the man. "You what?" John asked. A medic interrupted and introduced herself, John didn't remember her name, he was watching the man as he was reunited with a slender woman that looked to be made of dust she was so filthy. The medic guided John and Sherlock towards a medical bay.

The conversation in the medical tent baffled John. He sat next to Sherlock, the sunlight shining through the green tent giving everyone a sickly colour.  
"This was much bigger than a 5, I reckon about a 6" another man joined the conversation  
"I'm going to say 6.5"  
"6.2" a woman replied. John couldn't understand how they could joke about this sort of thing. The medic who was winding a bandage around Sherlock's ankle chuckled to himself, at first it sounded like a strangled cry, he shook his head. His white shirt was stained with dust and mud; there were large clean circles where his sunglasses had been. His hands shook slightly as he wound the bandage.  
"We have had over a thousand aftershocks and tremors since September, mostly fives or fours but this, this is huge, bigger than September, Christchurch has a new guessing game, guess the magnitude**, it's one of the things that helps up cope"  
"But how can an aftershock be bigger than the initial earthquake?" The medic just smiled  
"I'm guessing you haven't been here very long?" another woman who sat by a small child asked wiping down the child's face.  
"No just since Sunday, my friend and I are from London"

"Welcome to Christchurch" the woman replied with a weak sad smile.

**The cathedral really was a beautiful building. Thankfully no one died in the church after it's collapse, everyone in there got out alive. The biggest tragedy was the collapse and fire of the CTV building. CTV is our TV channel for Christchurch and a majority of the 185 people who died, died in that building along with the PGC building that pancaked and many from falling facades. If you are interested in finding out more about the Christchurch earthquake feel free to ask me any questions, or Google it.**

*** The gray, black sand is called liquefaction and Christchurch was a complete mess after it, it literally bubbled from the ground and covered whole suburbs in…mess and ruined many people's homes.**

**** 'Guess the magnitude' was something that my family and the people of Christchurch played regularly we didn't call it that but I had to give it a name, let's hope none of you have to play guess the magnitude in your lifetimes. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I present chapter two in my tale with Sherlock and John stuck smack bang in the thick of it. **

**Sorry John and Sherlock…**

* * *

It had been a long, painfully terrifying hour since the ground betrayed Christchurch. After Sherlock was cleared from serious injury despite the nasty bruising on his forehead from where he had been knocked unconscious and a cracked rib, the two were walking from town along with others desperate to reach their families and find out the fate of their homes. Sherlock clung to John uncomfortably, his fingernails digging into John's arm. John kept Sherlock close to keep both balanced. A man spotted the two, they clearly looked like they weren't dealing. John felt like he was going to vomit his whole head spun and his eyes couldn't focus. Motion sickness was setting in.  
"Are you two okay?" the man asked, bounding over to them once the ground had stopped shaking, John nodded "He's just been pulled from the cathedral so he's not dealing so well with the shaking" John replied, the man nodded. Sherlock remained silent his nails still digging into John's arm  
"My names Harry" Harry held out his hand and attempted a smile. His Hi Vis yellow was dulled with dust and mud. John accepted his hand "Where have you come from?" he asked. John pointed towards the center of town. Sherlock nodded silently next to him. Without saying a word Sherlock began walking through the park surrounded by heavy traffic on all sides. He was suddenly eager to get away from the two. John had never seen traffic congestion quite like this. Both Harry and John raced to catch up with Sherlock. The three walked in silence, John wasn't sure why Harry had attached himself to them but it was comforting to be with another. Suddenly the smell of smoke hit John so strongly he stopped briefly. Thick black smoke was becoming thicker and thicker as the three walked, a fire had broken out, sirens wailed in the distance and John wondered how the hell they were going to get through the traffic. The siren approached louder and louder and John watched in shock as the fire engine pulled out from traffic and drove through the middle of the park whizzing straight past Sherlock, Harry, and John. Harry froze and for some reason John and Sherlock couldn't continue either, the three looked at each other and shook their heads, neither could understand why they didn't want to take another step forward. "I think we should change our route" Harry announced looking up in dread at the flames and black smoke belching into the sky. Without a word Sherlock took off towards their hotel. John and Harry followed, John was rather eager to get back to the hotel and change his clothes  
"Where are you guys going?" he asked as the battled their way through the black sand.  
"Our hotel is just up the road" John supplied. A look of doubt passed over Harry's face""What?" John asked. Without saying a word Harry pointed towards a building that twisted and lent like the leaning tower of Pisa."That one?" he asked. It took John a while to take the building in before he realized the building was their hotel. John's mouth hung open and ran full speed towards the building.  
"Are you nuts?" Harry yelled after him. Sherlock was right behind John.  
"I'm sorry sir you can't continue any further" a woman dressed in army camo announced.  
"But that's our hotel! All our stuff is in there!" he yelled back, the woman simply shook her head. Sherlock grabbed John's arm before he could push his way through the cordon around the building, Harry had only just caught up as John stormed from the building.  
"Where the hell are we supposed to go? How the hell are we supposed to get our stuff?! Our passports and travel information, everything!" he yelled at Sherlock, he flinched but didn't say a word.  
"You could…"  
"It's just our luck to get caught up in natural disaster!" he shouted. He wanted to scream and kick like a child again  
"Why don't you…"  
"This is mental!" John finally bellowed kicking a lamppost the three had stumbled upon once they were turned away from the building.  
"Shut up John!" Sherlock bellowed to John's surprise, he rounded on Sherlock and glared at him, it was the first thing he had said in the past hour Harry stood sheepishly behind him, Sherlock looked back at him and finally Harry finished the sentence John hadn't noticed he had been trying to say.  
"You could stay with us" he said in a small voice "Our house is still relatively untouched since September which is lucky, not sure what it's like now though" The flame of anger was suddenly drenched. This man had only known them for all of half an hour and he had opened his home to them."Well it's not wise you know most serial killers –" Sherlock began  
"Shut up!" John spat at Sherlock, he glared at John before looking back to Harry "I mean thank you" he said, John snorted in laughter despite their situation. Harry smiled and rubbed his hands together "great I'm sure my wife and daughters wouldn't mind" dread and uncertainty clouded his eyes and he cleared his throat, he was suddenly in a huge hurry to get home and John and Sherlock had trouble keeping up with him as he ran. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone but he got the same dial tone as John had, the network was engaged and overloaded. Harry tried to laugh it off but John could see the worry sinking its claws into Harry as they walked through the black sand and destruction, the alarms became more and more distant and as they walked the houses started to look more normal. The dust was still hanging around the city and it had started to make breathing difficult, Sherlock coughed next to him and soon all three were coughing as they walked.  
"Help!" a voice shouted up ahead John, Harry and Sherlock ran towards the figures in the distance waving frantically at the three, as they got closer John realized the cry for help was from three people next to a car. The car was squashed underneath a heavy concrete beam the passenger side completely crushed and demented. They picked up their pace and reached the desperate men, was this one of their cars? Why were they attempting to lift a beam from a destroyed car, it wouldn't go anyway anytime soon.  
"Oh my God" Sherlock whispered next to him in shock, John looked at him and then followed his wide eyed gaze to the car, John's stomach somersaulted and he felt like he was going to be sick, there was someone in the car sitting behind the wheel. He was slumped over against the wheel and John wasn't sure if he was dead or not, he didn't want to find out but his instincts told him to grab the concrete beam, Sherlock and Harry were talking frantically to the two men who had waved them down. John wasn't sure how they had done it, the beam must have weighed more than a ton but they did, the six of them moved the beam, adrenalin was pumping through John's body as he dragged the beam from the car, Sherlock had collapsed to the ground clutching his chest, John panicked and ran to him. His face was contorted in pain and he was gritting his teeth, John would give anything to be back in London safe and away from this disaster.  
"Sherlock just breath" he said trying his best to comfort him, he suspected the rib was no longer just cracked "Just breath"  
"I can't" he hissed, Panic flooded John.  
"I need an inhaler, now!" he shouted, but the men were too busy with the man they had just pulled from the wreckage of their car "Someone help!" he yelled "just focus on your breathing try to forget the pain" he said over and over like a mantra. Harry appeared by their side and bent over Sherlock making him more uncomfortable. "You need to move away! You can't crowd him he will panic" John shouted, he didn't need Sherlock fainting on them now there would be no way to get an ambulance this far out of town through the traffic and the line was engaged to call one, beside they were all held up. John couldn't carry Sherlock all the way back to Harry's they had no idea how long it would take or where they were going. He need help fast.  
"Harry do you have an inhaler?" he asked desperately, Harry shook his head the worry growing in his eyes as he watched Sherlock struggle for breath, John was in dire need of an inhaler, Sherlock could continue on that with a suspected punctured lung for at least another ten minutes with help. Why didn't he carry one around with him, John thought stupidly, why would he? He didn't have asthma but it seemed like the most important necessity that everyone should have on them right now.  
"I need an inhaler now or we will have to carry him the rest of the way! He is going to collapse and probably go into respiratory arrest tell those men that one of them better have asthma!" Harry nodded and stumbled towards the men assessing the car victim. Sherlock was beginning to weaken and his whole body began to heave with the effort of breathing, not a good sign. Finally Harry returned and held out a small blue inhaler; John cried out with relief and handed the inhaler to Sherlock. "Bac…teria" he wheezed, John wanted to slap him, he didn't care whether Sherlock got bacteria from someone else's inhaler he just wanted him alive. He shoved the inhaler in his hand.  
"It's bacteria or the morgue got it Sherlock" he hissed and Sherlock nodded. Harry helped John lift Sherlock and together they stumbled through the mess leaving the two men to deal with the car incident, Harry nodded as they passed the men and they nodded thanks back, they understood their situation. John didn't understand why Harry was here, why he had chosen them to help, there were hundreds, thousands of other people to help and he had chosen them. Why? John couldn't have been more relieved to find they had turned the corner into a small enclosed street the damage and disaster from the city was replaced with an eerie, quite shell shocked street, the sounds of the sirens could still be heard drilling fear into everyone but they were nowhere near as loud. The street seemed deserted but John could see the drawback of curtains and curious faces peering through the windows at them. Harry led them towards a red brick house with a double garage, the house was in almost perfect condition along with the rest of the houses, John couldn't believe they were still in the same city, the destruction of town made John believe the whole of Christchurch was like this but the street was relatively untouched. As soon as Harry opened the front gate a girl rushed to greet Harry, she was wearing a school uniform. She threw herself in his arms and dissolved into tears and Harry sighed in relief as a woman rushed from her patio chair. John knew they were missing one he could see it in all of their eyes. Rain had begun to fall and a cold wind picked up. "Why didn't you stay inside?" he asked holding them close. "We didn't want to, we were afraid it wouldn't hold" the girl in the uniform seemed to notice John and Sherlock after she let go off her mother and father.  
"Who are you two?" she asked. John didn't really want to take time to explain who they were when Sherlock was gasping for breath next to him "You should get him inside" Harry instructed still clinging to his wife. "Elizabeth and Amelia will look after you, I need to check on the neighbours" John Nodded and the girl in the uniform helped John take Sherlock inside.  
"I'm Amelia and my mum is Elizabeth, I can give you a hand with him if you like?" John nodded "I'm John Watson and this is Sherlock Holmes" he said and together they placed Sherlock on the couch. John felt relieved to have his weight, while not much, off him. John instructed Sherlock to keep sucking on the inhaler and explained that this was going to hurt, he had to relive the pressure on his lung, John was confident now that it was not punctured because he had responded positively to the inhaler but he knew he had to shift the rib.  
"Amelia can you get me some pain relief please" he asked, Amelia nodded and rushed from the room.  
"Sherlock you don't feel like our drowning do you?"  
"No, just like I've run about…three marathons" he wheezed looking up at John. Sweat was running down his forehead. "And the was kicked in the chest…at the finish line"  
"Are you ready?" he asked, Amelia returned to the room and Elizabeth fell into the seat opposite the couch, John wanted to tell them to leave the room but this was their house he could hardly do that. Sherlock closed his eyes and nodded.  
"I'm going to place my hands under your ribs and I need you take exhale…now"  
Sherlock breathed out and John heard him cry out in pain as John located the broken rib and shifted it away from the lung, Sherlock whimpered and opened his eyes. "I'm finished now, Amelia I need the pain relief" he held out his hand not taking his eyes off Sherlock he had to know it had worked. Sherlock seemed to be more at ease with his breathing and John pulled the inhaler grasped in his hand. He handed it to Amelia and told her to keep it in an accessible place in case Sherlock needed it again. There was a rumbling and Elizabeth broke into tears, Sherlock shook his head in panic and Amelia gripped John's arm painfully as the room swayed.  
"About a four I reckon" Elizabeth said, her voice shaking. Amelia released her painful grip on John's arm. It seemed like Sherlock was about to fall asleep on them.  
"We would leave you three in peace but I have to find a place for him to rest and recover" Elizabeth nodded.  
"Don't be silly you can stay as long as you need we don't mind" she replied. John smiled at her  
"Thank you"  
"Amelia can you show John and Sherlock to Grace's room pleases"  
"She won't be happy" she muttered  
"She won't care right now, she can sleep in your room tonight" Elizabeth, Amelia seemed pleased to hear this and she happily led Sherlock and John to a small room.  
"I think my mother's lying" Amelia said helping John shift Sherlock to the bed. John was puzzled by this; he looked at her in confusion.  
"I think the aftershock just then was a five" She said cheekily. John smiled despite himself.

* * *

**I agree with Amelia and Elizabeth, we were wwwaaayyy to scared to enter our own house we tried to hide under the bed for a bit but then we had images of it collapsing on us so we transferred outside where we freezed our butts off in the rain and listened to the sirens from town.**


End file.
